Method and device for removing the hairs from the skin of fells



M. BLOCH 1,783,693 EVICE FOR. REMOVING THE HAIRS FROM THE SKIN OF FELLS Dec. 2, 1930.

METHOD. AND D Filed April 11, 1930 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Dec. 2, 1930. Q BLOCH 1383,6931

METHOD AND DEVICE FOR REMOVING THE HAIRS FROM THE SKIN OF FELLS Filed April 11. 1930 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 lnvenfor': JM/l BL OCh Patented Dec. 2, 1930 I v I v UNITED STATES PATENTOFFICE MAX BLOCH, OF FRANKFORT-ON-THE-MAIN, GERMANY METHOD AN D DEVICE FOR REMOVING THE HAIRS FROM: THE SKIN F FELLS Application filed April 11, 1930, Serial No. 443,539, and in Germany April 16, 1929.

According to prior patents, in the severing may be employed, if through the slot of the of the hairs from the skins of falls by macasin of the knife-cylinder serving for the chines the fell is guided against a rapidly introduction of the fell a current of air is fed revolving knife-cylinder co-operating with which is directed outwards. By that means 3 a stationary knife to cut the skin of the fell the hair severed at each cut will be removed 55 into strips and sever the hairs from the skin. from the cutting place, before the next knife Because during this procedure the hair is dis becomes operative. A repeated cutting of posed onthe same side of the fell as the stathe hair, therefore, isimpossible: tionary knife, it banks up before this latter If the removal of the hairs ismade by I m and travels downwards under the influence of compressed air, it is preferable to feed the gravity in form of fleece. On account of the air through the shaft of the rotating cylinder small weight of the hair and due to the enof knives and to permit the air to escape tangling of the single hairs, the hairs already through slots which are arranged immediatesevered are partially carried away with the ly in advance of the cutting edges of. the- 15 fell, so that the hairs are cut a second time. respective knives, the slots, preferably ex- This produces a loss, because only the long tending in the same direction as the edges of hairs are valuable. the knives. In order that the compressed air The object of the invention is to provide may escape only during actual cutting movea method, by which the above stated disment of the respective knives the air is fed. 20 advantages are avoided. This method conthrough a pipe which is arranged along the '70 sists in feeding the fell to the machine with axis of the knife-cylinder and which is prothe hair side of the fell disposed toward the vided within the cylinder with a slot which revolving knife cylinder and in removing may be adjusted so that it permits the enthe hair from the place of cutting by the aid trance of the air into the channels of the 5 of a current of air, so that the hair is reknife-cylinder at the 'proper instant. moved from the vicinity of the knives. In Because as above stated the stationary this way the repeated cutting of the hair is knife is always rectilineal and the knives seavoided and the generation of hair-dust obvicured to the cylinder are curved helically, atcd, whichis a great economical advantage. the slots in the cylinder must also be curved 30 Preferably the current of air is caused to helically, while the slot of the air-pipe must .80

travel in a direction opposite to the direction he rectilineal. The helical slots of the cylinof rotation of the knives and obliquely to the der are essentially parallel to the edges of plane of the fell. In this way the escape of the knives and moreover according to the the air is facilitated and the formation of invention said slots are curved in such a man- 5 dangerous eddies of air is avoided. ner that the compressed air escapes at acute According to the invention the current of angles with respect to radial lines passing air acts only at the place of cutting and through the cutting edges of the knives and travels along the stationary knife. The opposite to the dlrection of rotation of the travelling current of air has the advantage of knife-cylinder. Thus the hair cut off Wlll 40 a small consumption of air and protects the be blown away from the skin, so that 1t comes fleece of the cut hair from a useless flow of air. out of the reach of the knives.

According to the invention the hair is A second series of air-passages which are sucked immediately after its cutting off from parallel to the edges of the knives and essenthe skin towards a porous conveying band tlally radial is provided for blowlng away 45 and therefore retains its form as fleece. This the hairs which may be caught by the edges is desirable because the different parts of the of the knives. fleece are not ol the same value and must be The cylinder of knlves is provided with a sorted before their utilization. foil having a smaller diameter than the cir- For executing the new method one of the cumferential surface in which the edges of 50 known machines used for the hair-cutting the knives are arranged. This foil has the purpose to avoid the generation of air-eddies, which otherwise might be generated by the protruding knives of the cylinder.

A further object of the invention is to provide a device by means of which the elements of the fleece obtained by the new method are maintained connected with one another. This device consists of a conveying band which is arrangedclose to the edge of the knives.

Preferably the stationary knife as well as the conveying band is arranged below the cylinder of knives. In this case the operative portion of the band is arranged nearly horizontal and parallel to the stationary knife in order both to support and to carry away the hair cut oil.

It is advantageous to employ a porous band and to arrai'ige a sucking device below the operative portion of this band. By this meansthe hair blown away by the air current will. be sucked up and held fast by the conveyor band immediately after its severing from the skin, so that it cannot be jumbled up by the compressed air, but retains its form as fleece.

According to the invention. a turning device is provided to turn the fleece to dispose .the points of the hairsupwards, in which position the sorting of the hairs can be effected without trouble.

In the drawing a device for executing the method according to the invention is shown. Fig. 1 is a vertical section through the machine;

Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the same; Fig. 3a vertical cross-section through the cylinder of knives; and

Fig. 4 a similar cross-section through'the conveyor-rollers on an enlarged scale.-

The twoside-frames 1 and 2 of the machine are connected at their tops by a bar 3 and at their bottoms by a plate 4 carrying the motor eta. In the rear portion of these side-frames the bearings 5, 6 are arranged by which the knife-cylinder 7 is carried. This cylinder carries the knives 8 which are curved helically and the length of which corresponds to the width of the fells to be cut. Moreover the cylinder is provided with a foil 9 having the purpose to guide the compressed air escaping from the interior of'the cylinder and to avoid eddies of air during rotation of the cylinder. The cylinder is provided with a bore extending throughout the length of the cylinder and said cylinder moreover has formed therein two series of passages. The passage of the one series are curved and in cooperation with the beveled. edges of the foil 9 give to the air passing through tillr'in a direction which oblique to a radial line and opposite tothe-direction of rotation of the cylinder. The passages of the other series extend in radial directions, so that the air may escape from the cylinder roller 37 with it.

in a radial direction. The passages Z) and c are curved in the direction of the axis helically and parallel to the edges of the knives. The supply of air takes place through a pipe 10, which is connected with the air supply pipe 11, the pipe 19 being provided with a as rectilineal slot a which is approximately as long as the cylinder of knives The cylinder -7 cooperates with-the stationary knife 12 which has a rectilincal edge and which is attached to the guide-plate 15 by means of the bar 13 and the screws 14. This guide-plate carries vertical elongations d disposed in dovetailed guides of the sideframesl and 2. In the guides of the sideframes side-plates 16 are arranged, against which the ends of the guide-plate 15 abut and by means of the screws 17,18 the stationary knife is adapted to be adjusted relative to the cylinder of knives.

Below the edge of the stationary knife the stationary conveyor-rollers 19, 20 are arranged which are connected to each other by the spur-wheels 21, 22 and 23 driven from the grooved pulley 24 by means of the wheels 25 and 26. The pulley 24 is connected by means of a round belt with the belt-pulley 27 secured to the shaft 28. The pulley 27 is driven from the knife-cylinder 7 by means of the pulleys 29 and 30.

The lower conveyor-roller 19 co-operates with'the grooved roller 31 which is resiliently journaled. It is carried by two levers 32, which may be oscillated around the pivots 33 and which are connected at their lower ends by the plate 3-1. The grooved roller 31 carries a pinion 35 (Fig. 2) meshing with.a corresponding gear wheel of the conveyor roller 19 to cause rotation of the two conveyor rollcrs 19 and 31 in opposite directions.

Vith the conveyor roller 20 an endless band 36' (o-operates, which band is guided over the guide-rollers 37, 38 and 39. The last roller 39 is journaled in bearings 40 arranged in the side-frames 1 and 2 and is slowly driven from the intermediate shaft by the aid of conical wheels 11 and 42 and the screw gear 43, 44. Theband 3G is porous so that the air can pass through it. \Vithin the space surrounded by the band 36 a tube 61 is arranged which is connected with the suction pipe 45. The tube 61 is open at its upper end and extends nearly to the guide-rollers 37, 38. The guide-roller 37 is journaled in two resilient bearings 46 (Fig.1). against the noses of which the upper ends of the levers 32 hear. if the conveyor roller fill is lifted from the roller 19 in horizontal direction. it takes the in this position of the rollers the material to be cut may be easily introduced between them.

Year the guide-roller 39 the turning device is arranged which serves for turning the fleece. It consists of the wing 17, the upper side of which is covered by the perforated plate 48 and on each side carries a-trunnion, j ournaled in the frame element 40. The end of one trunnion is connected by the pipe 49 with the suction pipe 45. The wing 47 may be oscillated by'the aid of the handle 50 so that the perforated plate 48 comes into contact with the endless band 36. a As soon as it has reached this position, the Wingv will be connected by means of the hand wheel 51 with the suction pipe. The consequence is that the fleece lying on the conveyor band is sucked up by the wing 47. Then the latter will be returned to its horizontal position and the hair lies now with the points upwards on the plate 48 and can therefore be easily sorted.

The propulsion of the knife cylinder 7 is obtained by the pulley 52 from the motor 4a. The free end of the slotted pipe 10 carries an arm 53', in the upper end of which is arranged a set of screws 54, abutting against the fixed stop 55.

The knife-cylinder is surrounded by a protesting hood 57 rotatable around the pivots 56 (Fig. 1). This hood carries in its lower parta drawer 58 which serves for the reception of the wasting strips of skin and is provided with a strip 62 of sheet metal bearing at its upper part against the knife-cylinder while its edge is spaced from the edge of the stationary knife, so that a slot is formed, through which the fell may be fed to the cylinder-knives The front side of the machine carries a box 59 of sheet metal, which is closed by a cover 60 and serves also for the reception of the wasting strips of skin.

When adjusting the machine care must be taken that the compressed air escapes from the interior of the knife-cylinder at the proper time to blow away the severed hair. For this purpose the slot (1 of the pipe 10 is adjusted by turning the latter in such a manner, that its communication with the passages Z) becomes operative a short time before a knife of the cylinder begins to act. The hair which has been severed by the preceding knife is therefore blown away before the following knife becomes operative. In order that the adjustment of the slotted pipe 10 may be made with the required accuracy, a set screw 54 is arranged at the upper end of the arm 53.

The passages 0 have the purpose to blow away the strips of skin which may be caught by the knives.

The operation of the machine is as follows:

The fell to be cutis inserted with the hairside directed away from the stationary knife between the conveyor rollers and displaced by these latter against the knife-cylinder 7. As soon as the fell reaches the knives of this cylinder it will be cut in small strips and at the same time the hairs will be cut oil". By means of the compressed air escaping outwards the severed hair after each cut will be blown on the conveyor band 36 and retained thereon by the suction device arranged below the guide rollers 37 and 38. This process is repeated at each cut so long as the fell is displaced by the conveyor rollers 19, 20, 31 and the conveyor band 36. The strips cut from the fell gather themselves for the greatest part in the box 59 of sheet metal while the severed hair remains as fleece on the conveyor band 36 and moves with the latter. If the whole fell is cut, the fleecelies upon that part of the conveyor band which is directed obliquely upwards. Now the fleece must be taken from the conveyor band and turned. This is eifected by means of the turning device 47 by oscillating this latter around its pivots so far that the perforated plate 48 comes into contact with the fleece. The lat-' ter is now sucked up and lifted from the conveyor band by returning the turning device to its original position so that now the points of the hairs aredirected upwards. In this position .thefleece will be sorted and then conveved farther.

What I claim is 1. Method for severing the hairs from the skin of fells by introducing the fell between the knives of a. hair-cutting machine in such a manner that the knives of the cylinder cut off the hairs from the hair-side of the skin and that the hair severed from the skin is blown away by a current of air in a direction opposite to the direction of rotation of the cylinder-knives in order to remove them out of the reach of the knives. I

2. Method for severing the hairs from the skin of fells by introducing the fell between the knives of a hair-cutting machine in such a manner that the knives of the cylinder cut off the hairs from the hair-side of the skin and that the hair severed from the skin is blown away in a direction opposite to the direction of rotation of thecylinder-knives by a current of air becoming operative along the stationary knife only at the place where in each moment the cutting takes place.

3. Method for severing the hairs from the skin of falls by introducing the fell between the knives of a hair-cutting machine in such a manner, that the knives of the cylinder cut 05 the hairs from the hair-side of the skin and that the hair severed from the skin is blown away in a direction opposite to.

the direction of rotation of the knife-cylinder by the aid of a current of air on a porous conveyor-band in order to maintain the connection of the fleece. v

4. Machine for executing the method of severing the hairs from the skin of fells comprising in combination a stationary knife,

and a rotating knife-cylinder arranged on the hair-side of the fell in a casing, a slot in said casing at the cutting place, an air-passage arranged tangentially to the knife-cylinder for blowing an air-current from the interior of the casing in a direction opposite to the direction of rotation of the cylinder in order to remove the severed hairs from the cutting-place.

5. Machine for severing the hairs from the skin of fells, comprising in combination a casing, surrounding a stationary rectilineal knife and a rotating knife-cylinder with helically curved knives, air-passages in said knife-cylinder connected to a source of compressed air, said air-passages being parallel to the edge of the cylinder-knives and curved corresponding to said edges, a rectilineal slot in the air-supply pipe co-operating with said air-passages in such a manner that the air-current can escape only at that place at which a cutting action takes place.

6. Machine for severing the hairs from the skin of fells comprising in combination a casing, surroundin a stationary knife, and a rotating knife-cylinder, a series of air-passages in said cylinder, connected to a source of compressed air, and deflecting the escaping air current into a nearly tangential direction, a second series of radially arranged air-passages in said cylinder, both series of air-passages being curved according to the helical edge of the knives and arranged parallel to said edge, a slot in the supply pipe of the compressed air for allowing only the escape of air at that place where in each moment of the rotation of the knives a cutting action takes place.

7. Machine for severing the hairs from the skin of fells, comprising in combination a stationary knife, a rotating knife-cylinder, two series of air'passages in said cylinder, a foil having a diameter somewhat smaller than the diameter of the knife-edges, a slot in the supply pipe for compressed air for allowing the escape of air only at the cutting place.

'8. Machine for severing the hairs from the skin of fells, comprising in combination a stationary knife, a rotating knife-cylinder, air-passages in said cylinder for blowing an air current towards the cutting place in a direction opposite to the direction of rotation of said cyhnder, a porous conveyor-band for the severed hairs and a suction device co-operating with said band for retaining the hairfleece on said band without troubling the connection of the fleece.

9. Machine for severing the hairs from the skin of fells, comprising in combination a. stationary knife, a rotating knife-cylinder, a conveyor-band, a suction device below said band, and a turning device movable to and from a position above said band for turning the hairs with their points upwards.

10. Machine for severing the hairs from the skin of fells, comprising in combination a stationary knife, a rotating knife-cylinder, a conveyor-band, a suction device below said band, a tiltable turning device, connected with a source of suction and movable to and from a position in overlying relation to said from the conveyor-band and then be turned.

by movement of the turning device to its second mentioned position.

In testimony whereof I have affixed my signature.

MAX BLO CH. 

